Language + Language Development Flashcards
Language
System for communicating with others using signals
- Signals must be combined according to rules of grammar
- Signals must convey meaning
Grammar
Set of rules that defines how the units of language can be combined
3 big differences btw human and monkey language
1) Human language has complex structure
2) Human language can refer to intangible things (e.g. unicorns, happiness(
3) Humans use language to name, categorize, and describe things to ourselves when we think
Language component hierarchy
Smallest –> largest
Phenome, morphemes/words, words, phrases, sentences
Phenomes
Smallest unit of speech that distinguishes one unit from another; phenomes are combined to form words
In English, the letters (B makes ba) or combinations of letters (sh makes sh sound) are phenomes
Phenomic rules
How phenomes can be combined to form words
Morphemes
Combinations of phenomes; the smallest meaningful unit of language
In English, it could be a word (e.g. dog);
however, the meaning of the word “dog” can be altered by adding an s (dogs), so s can be a morpheme as well
Morphological rules
How morphemes can be combined to make words
Content vs function morphemes
Content: refer to things and events (dog, park, concert, etc)
Function: serve grammatical function (and, or, but, etc)
- Function morphemes give our language complexity
NOTE: both content and function morphemes can stand alone as words
Syntactic rules/syntax
How words can be combined to form phrases (e.g. a sentence must contain a noun and a verb)
Broca’s area
Responsible for language PRODUCTION; located in left frontal cortex
Broca’s aphasia
- Can only comprehend simple language
- Lots of trouble w speech production
Wernicke’s area
Responsible for language COMPREHENSION (spoken or signed); located in left temporal cortex
Wernicke’s aphasia
- Difficulty comprehending language
- Produce grammatical but meaningless speech
Bilingualism
- Monolingual and bilingual children don’t differ significantly in the course and rate of many aspects of language dev
- May be correlated to delayed onset of Alzheimer’s
- Other benefits still up for debate
Chimps learning human language
Washoe: learned over 160 words in ASL + formed novel constructions (e.g. water bird for duck)
- Infant chimp named Loulis learned 68 signs just by watching Washoe communicate w other chimps
Kanzi: learned to communicate w geometric keyboard
- Tried to teach mother but she couldn’t learn it –> suggests apes also have a critical period
- Comprehension progressed faster than production – mirrors humans
Limitations: limited vocab, could only communicate concrete objects and simple actions, limited understanding of grammar
3 main characteristics of human language development
1) Speed: children learn very fast – 10K words in 4 yrs btw ages 2-5 –> 6-7 new words a day
2) Few errors – children make few errors while learning how to speak
3) Comprehension > production – comprehension develops FASTER than production at every stage
Language capabilities of infants
- 4-6 months old
- Perceptual narrowing
- Can’t produce speech dependently – rely on other forms of communication (crying - birth, cooing - 1mo, babbling - 4-6mo)
Perceptual narrowing
- 6-8mo can distinguish btw all contrasting sounds in the human language at birth, BUT by 8-12 months, they lose that ability
- Can only distinguish btw contrasting sounds in the language they hear being spoken around them
- Benefits: infants that tune into the speech sounds of their native language faster –> larger vocabs at age 2
Babbling
- Characteristic of infants
- ALL infants go through the babbling sequence –> suggests babbling is a natural part of our natural development
- Deaf infants also babble but less and later (11 mo) –> implies infants must be able to hear themselves to continue babbling
Categorical speech perception
- Infants perceive speech sounds categorically
- Ex: acoustic difference btw “b” and “p” falls on continuum but we perceive these consonants as 2 distinctive categories
At what age do babies say their first word
10-12 months old
Telegraphic speech
- Occurs at 2 years
- Sentences without function morphemes (and, or, but, etc) and mostly consisting of content words, BUT they’re grammatical –> implies acquisition of syntax rules
Errors in emergence of grammar rules: overregularization
- 2-3 yr olds use correct past tense but 4-5 yr olds don’t bc they OVERREGULARIZE/overuse (e.g. kid overregularizes rule that past tense is indicated by “-ed” so run –> “runned” or “ranned”)
- Indicates that language acquisition is more than just imitating adult speech – children acquire grammar rules by listening to the speech around them to create new verbal forms without explicit awareness
At what age to children begin making complete sentences
~3 yrs old
2 theories on the orderly progression of language development
1) General cog dev unrelated to a specific language (e.g. infants begin w utterances bc their short-term memories are so limited)
2) Progression depends on experience w specific language – orderly progression is a reflection pf a child’s emerging knowledge of the language
3 main theories of language dev
Behaviorist, nativist, interactionist
Behaviorist theory of language development
We learn to talk thru reinforcement, shaping, extinction, and other basic principles of operant conditioning (more “nurture”)
Nativist theory of language development
- Predisposition for language; language processes naturally emerge as long as the infant receives adequate input to maintain the acquisition process (more “nature”)
- Evidence: critical periods for language dev, animals don’t learn language as successfully as humans
- Universal Grammar: collection of processes that facilitate language learning
Who is Genie and what theory of language dev does she support
- Genie: neglected child; kept completely isolated in a locked room by her father from 20 months to 13 yrs old
- Hadn’t learned language in isolation; had trouble learning language as an adult
- Supports nativist theory
Interactionist theory of language development
- Sort of a middle ground btw nativist and behaviorist
- Infants are born w an innate ability to acquire language BUT social interactions play a crucial role
-Parents tailor their verbal interactions w children in ways that simplify the language acquisition process (speak slowly, enunciate more clearly, etc) - Supported by the creation of a new sign language by deaf kids in Nicaragua
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis/linguistic relativity hypothesis + strong vs weak
Describes how and to what degree language influences our behavior
STRONG version
- Language determines thoughts and behavior
- Spoken language determines the concepts and categories u use –> shapes what can think abt
WEAK version
- Language influences thoughts and behavior
- Language influences what we pay attention to –> shapes experience
Psychologists prefer the WEAK version
- Ex: some languages have few words for color but can still color match
